Identifying the Drivers and Indicators of Future Urban Livability with a Foresight Approach (Case study: Shush danial city)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Payam e Noor Univercity

Abstract

Urban livability ensures a comfortable life for citizens and ecological, economic, and social sustainability, as well as  a sense of comfort in the living space. To make cities more livable, there is a need to develop the drivers and indicators of livability. Given the importance of this issue, this research has adopted a foresight approach to identify the future drivers and indicators of livability in the city of Shush-e-Daniel, Khuzestan Province, Iran. The present research is applied in terms of purpose and mixed (quantitative and qualitative) in terms of method. The statistical population consists of urban experts/specialists, managers, and researchers, from whom 30 experts were selected using non-probabilistic and purposive sampling with theoretical saturation. To collect the data, a future studies cross-impact questionnaire was used. For data analysis, the structural model and MICMAC software were employed. The results show that the most important objective drivers and indicators of urban livability include: 1) compatibility of land uses and observance of neighborhood relations (+23), 2) quality of the road network (+17), and 3) improvement of housing conditions and construction of affordable housing (+15). The most important subjective drivers and indicators are: 1) proper distribution of welfare, economic, and social opportunities for citizens (+26), 2) establishing social justice and social equality (+19), and 3) quality of leisure and recreation (+15).The final results of the research indicate that the key drivers and indicators of livability in the city of Shush-e-Daniel are: proper distribution of welfare, economic, and social opportunities for citizens, compatibility of land uses and observance of neighborhood relations, establishing urban social justice, quality of the road network, improvement of housing conditions and construction of affordable housing, quality of leisure, recreation and liveliness and happiness of citizens, which should be considered in sustainable urban development planning.
 

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